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Maddux, Martinez, Clemens vs. Grove ESPN.com | |||||||||||||||||
First of all, for those of you expecting , Walter Johnson or Cy Young or Tom Seaver or Christy Mathewson or (god forbid) Nolan Ryan, we pick Lefty Grove as the greatest pitcher of all time. Grove didn't reach the majors until he was 25. Why? Not because he wasn't great until then, but because he pitched for the Baltimore Orioles of the International League when the minors were still independent. His contract wasn't sold to the Philadephia Athletics until 1925. Despite his relatively late start, he still won 300 games. He still led the AL an amazing nine times in ERA. He led his league four times in wins, five times in winning percentage and seven times in strikeouts. The best active pitcher? We couldn't decide among Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens. All have a claim to becoming the greatest ever. The numbers: Player W-L Pct. IP ERA ERA+* TPI^ Grove 300-141 .680 3940 3.06 148 59.7 Clemens 260-142 .647 3666 3.07 146 57.5 Maddux 240-135 .640 3318 2.83 145 60.0 Martinez 125- 56 .691 1576 2.68 168 32.9* ERA adjusted for home park and normalized to league average (from "Total Baseball") ^ Total Player Index (from "Total Baseball") It's quite a race. Maddux has already surpassed Grove's ranking in Total Baseball (although that rating can down if Maddux becomes a below-average pitcher). Clemens isn't far behind and Martinez is fast approaching. In fact, Pedro had an amazing ERA+ of 292 last year (192 percent better than the league average, after adjusting for home park). That was the greatest since 1900. By the way, Maddux's 1994 and 1995 seasons are third and fourth on this list. Here we are, smack in the middle of the greatest hitting era since 1930 and we have three of baseball's all-time greatest pitchers dominating batters like they're Little Leaguers. We should appreciate the magnificent careers of these three hurlers. Final tally: Too close to call.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | ALSO SEE Best now vs. best ever: Catcher Best now vs. best ever: First base Best now vs. best ever: Second base Best now vs. best ever: Third base Best now vs. best ever: Shortstop Best now vs. best ever: Left field Best now vs. best ever: Center field Best now vs. best ever: Right field | ||||||||||||||||
